Favoring failure

Friday

Mar 14, 2008 at 11:10 AMMar 14, 2008 at 11:11 AM

Steve Williams-Opinion Page Editor

As we noted here earlier in the week, a three-judge panel from the Second District Court of Appeal in California issued a decision last Friday which, if it prevails, would require all home-school teachers to be certified by the state. The presiding judge of the panel, Justice H. Walter Croskey, wrote in his decision that, "In obedience to the constitutional mandate to bring about a general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence, the Legislature, over the years, enacted a series of laws. A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as the means of protecting the public welfare."

But of course that's not only nonsense, it's dangerous nonsense. The primary purpose of schools is to equip students with the knowledge, learning and motivation to search out the truth, and to make their way in the world as they contribute to society as individuals. Inculcating in them loyalty to the country through the application of an agenda-driven values system carries with it more than a whiff of Nazism. Certification of home-school teachers would, again if the Court of Appeal ruling prevailed, be controlled by the state, which would then be in a position to inculcate the agenda in the teachers, thereby insuring that the agenda would be passed along to the students. That's what now happens, of course, in the public school system, though we're well aware that a large number of teachers in the system — we wish we could say all — are immune to the brainwashing.

Judge Croskey and his judicial mates were, obviously, intent on either diminishing or destroying the home school movement, apparently in the belief that it does not serve society well.

But consider these facts, gleaned from "Home Schooling Achievement," a study conducted by National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI):

• The average homeschooled student outperformed his public school peers by 30 to 37 percentile points across all subjects. The study also indicates that public school performance gaps between minorities and genders were virtually non-existent (emphasis ours) among the homeschooled students who took the tests.

• Homeschool graduates are active and involved in their communities. 71 percent participate in an ongoing community service activity, like coaching a sports team, volunteering at a school, or working with a church or neighborhood association, compared with 37 percent of U.S. adults of similar ages from a traditional education background.

• Homeschool graduates are more involved in civic affairs and vote in much higher percentages than their peers. 76 percent of those surveyed between the ages of 18 and 24 voted within the last five years, compared with only 29 percent of the corresponding U.S. populace. The numbers are even greater in older age groups, with voting levels not falling below 95 percent, compared with a high of 53 percent for the corresponding U.S. populace.

• 58.9 percent report that they are "very happy" with life, compared with 27.6 percent for the general U.S. population. 73.2 percent find life "exciting", compared with 47.3 percent.

Experts on home schooling estimate (there's no way to know the true, actual figure) there are more than 2 million children in the nation being home schooled, and of those some 240,000 are in California. Those experts also believe the number in California is disproportionate to the national state average because parents here perceive the public system as dysfunctional. It does a poor job, in other words, and they believe home schooling works better. The figures above prove them right, in our view.

Conclusion? What the Second District Court of Appeal ought to be doing is encouraging even more home school teaching. Those parents who engage in the practice have long since proved its superiority.